联合卫理公会首届领导力聚会闭幕：280多名教会领袖在加拿大卡尔加里共商宗派未来
联合卫理公会10月20日至24日在加拿大艾伯塔省卡尔加里市的诺克斯联合教会（Knox United Church）举行史上首届「领导力聚会」，281名教会领袖亲临现场、46人线上参与，以聆听与辨识的方式共商这个在全球100多个国家拥有1,100多万会众的宗派的未来方向。
与会者中三分之一年龄在35岁以下，来源涵盖非洲7个主教辖区、欧洲3个年议会、菲律宾3个年议会和美国37个年议会；全体在任主教、3名荣休主教和宗派13个总机构的最高主管均出席。主教理事会主席小鲁本·萨恩斯主教（Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr.）在开幕讲道中说：「教会不是那股改变生命的力量之源。」设计团队共同主席斯蒂芬妮·亨利（Stephanie Henry）表示，聚会围绕宗派新愿景展开：勇敢去爱、喜乐服侍、勇毅引领。
这场聚会为非立法性质，不做决议、不设表决。奥利温主教（Bishop Sandra K. Olewine）介绍，其构想源自两年半前关于召开特别总议大会的讨论，后演变为此次聚会。主教理事会将在11月的会议上回顾聚会成果，并于2027年1月前向全教会发布领导力聚会报告。
United Methodist Church Holds First Leadership Gathering: More Than 280 Leaders Meet in Calgary to Discern the Denomination's Future
The United Methodist Church held its first-ever Leadership Gathering on October 20 to 24 at Knox United Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with 281 invited leaders attending in person and 46 more joining online for holy listening and discernment about the future of a denomination with more than 11 million members in over 100 countries.
One-third of the participants were aged 35 or younger. They came from seven episcopal areas in Africa, three annual conferences in Europe, three in the Philippines and 37 in the United States, and they were joined by all active bishops, three retired bishops and the top executives of the church's 13 general agencies. 'The church is not the source of that transforming power,' Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr., president of the Council of Bishops and a co-chair of the gathering, said in the opening sermon. Design team co-chair Stephanie Henry said the meeting centered on the denomination's vision: love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.
The gathering was non-legislative, taking no votes and passing no resolutions. Bishop Sandra K. Olewine said the concept had evolved over two and a half years from discussions about a possible special session of the General Conference. The Council of Bishops will reflect on the gathering at its November meeting, and a Leadership Gathering report will be shared with the wider church by January 2027.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：位于南卡罗来纳州哥伦比亚市的卫斯理联合卫理公会教堂（资料图）。Eastward Gypsy 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Wesley United Methodist Church in Columbia, South Carolina (file photo). Photo by Eastward Gypsy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
